"That guy..."
Madara paid no attention to Black Zetsu. Though Urashiki's strength wasn't overwhelming, he was still a formidable opponent.
His unpredictable space-time ability, with a speed that even four Limbo clones couldn't keep up with — and there must be other abilities that Madara hadn't discovered yet.
Madara still didn't know what would happen if he got hit by that red fishing rod, but it certainly wouldn't be anything good.
"Lord Madara?"
"What is it, Black Zetsu?"
"There was a bit of an accident earlier. The two White Zetsu clones controlling the Edo Tensei were caught in the battle and were destroyed, which led to the Edo Tensei bodies they controlled escaping."
Black Zetsu was feeling quite tired. When it rains, it pours; not only did he encounter his mother's enemies today, but two Edo Tensei bodies also managed to escape.
"One is the Third Mizukage, and the other is Konoha's Namikaze Minato. We might need to relocate, Lord Madara."
"This is inconsequential, they are just two Edo Tensei bodies. Black Zetsu, have White Zetsu track the person from before. If necessary, you should investigate as well."
"Uh, well..."
Black Zetsu almost cursed out loud. Sending him to track an Ōtsutsuki — didn't Madara care about his life at all? As Kaguya's will, he wanted to hide from the Ōtsutsuki, not get closer to them.
"I fear it will be difficult, Lord Madara. That guy seemed to be able to see us. He not only had the Rinnegan but also the Byakugan of the Hyuga clan. It's better to let White Zetsu clones go. Even if they're discovered, there's no real loss."
Black Zetsu quickly lied. He didn't know if the Byakugan could see underground, but he would never get close enough to find out.
"I see. Then have the White Zetsu clones gather as much information as possible. I hope that guy doesn't interfere with my plans!"
Madara nodded. He intended to hide the Gedo Statue now, as the guy just now, despite having the Rinnegan, didn't seem capable of using summoning to take the Gedo Statue away.
Otherwise, there would've been no need for them to fight over the Gedo Statue.
After giving his orders, the White Zetsu clones at this base dispersed, but they weren't nearly enough to gather information across the entire ninja world.
Moreover, Madara also wanted to gather other information, and so he thought of using the Gedo Statue to cultivate more White Zetsu clones, at least multiplying their current numbers tenfold to gather a lot more intelligence.
A powerful and strange enemy suddenly appearing in the ninja world, possibly from the same clan as the Rabbit Goddess Kaguya — this demanded Madara's utmost attention.
Black Zetsu, standing nearby, had a lot on his mind as well. He wanted to cultivate more White Zetsu clones, but not for intelligence-gathering. Instead, they were to create forces capable of fighting the Ōtsutsuki.
Ordinary White Zetsu weren't much of a threat to the Ōtsutsuki, but if they had more specialized White Zetsu, it would be a decent fighting force.
...
"Mm-mm~"
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Cough~! Cough cough... You bastard, I almost choked to death just now!"
Kushina, having recovered, raised her fist and hit Yōichi a couple of times in anger and embarrassment, but to Yōichi, it felt like a gentle massage.
"You're the one to talk, Kushina. You spat out too much, and I even gave you 'life energy' just now. Otherwise, how could you have recovered so quickly?"
Yōichi pointed at himself and at the large wet stain on the bedsheet, then got off the bed to clean up a bit. Afterward, he brought a glass of water to Kushina and asked:
"How do you feel about the life energy? It can make you regain your youth and even grant you immortality."
"Hmph, you only care about the child!"
Kushina huffed as she accepted the glass, though she herself cared about the child a lot.
She had mixed feelings about this child. Day by day, she felt the child growing inside her, and a sense of anticipation slowly emerged in her heart. But when she thought about how this child was forced upon her by Yōichi, she didn't know how to face it in the future.
"Who said that? I care about you more, Kushina."
Yōichi pulled Kushina into his embrace. She resisted a little, but her resistance was weak, and soon, they lay together, unclothed.
"You know you enjoy being with me. Even if there was no child, could you deny the times you begged for more?"
"Lies! Shut up, I never did such a thing!"
Kushina was flustered and furious, immediately denying his words. She had always been forced into this. She had never been happy, not even for a moment. Even the things she said before were said out of sheer necessity.
"Then let me force you a few more times, Kushina."
With that, Yōichi flipped over, pinning Kushina beneath him.
Seeing this, Kushina panicked slightly and said, "What are you doing? There's the child; we shouldn't..."
"With life energy, don't worry, Kushina. You've experienced the wonders just now. It'll only bring benefits."
Saying this, Yōichi pressed his body against hers.
The familiar feeling caused Kushina to take a deep breath, and soon her arms wrapped around Yōichi's neck as her eyes closed.
"Mmm~"
"Ngh."
Two figures moved up and down repeatedly, in and out. With the life energy, Kushina no longer had her worries, and with the barrier technique she put up, there was no need to fear any accidents.
Suddenly, a thought flashed in Kushina's mind. Right now, she didn't want to think about anything troubling. She just wanted to immerse herself in that feeling.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
...
In the early morning, with the aid of life energy, Kushina didn't feel tired at all.
After getting up, she touched her abdomen, feeling no discomfort. She couldn't help but curse Yōichi in her mind a few times — he would even put the child at risk just for that. Although the life energy worked, what if they lost the child? What would he do then?
After putting the bedsheet and covers into the washing machine, Kushina went downstairs to prepare breakfast.
Although she could have taken Naruto to have breakfast at Yōichi's place, Kushina wanted to avoid any unnecessary risks, and besides, she had always had breakfast with Naruto, so she had already gotten used to it, thus rejecting Mina's suggestion.
"Naruto!"
Kushina pushed open Naruto's bedroom door, only to find her silly son still sound asleep, hugging his pillow. She angrily stepped forward and lifted Naruto up, yelling, "Idiot son, time for breakfast!"
Naruto was startled awake by the shouting, letting go of the Sasuke pillow he was hugging. This pillow was one that Mikoto had made; initially, there were only three — one each for Sasuke and Itachi, and Naruto had taken the third one.
Naruto initially planned to use the pillow as a training sandbag, but since it was too light, he left it on his bed. However, whenever Naruto fell asleep, he would unconsciously hug the Sasuke pillow.
"Go wash up, or the breakfast will get cold!"
After dragging Naruto downstairs, Kushina left him at the bathroom door and went to get breakfast ready.
While they were eating, Kushina suddenly asked, "Naruto, what are your plans for today?"
"Well, I think I'll rest with Kimimaro-nii-san and the others. Yesterday he said he'd teach Sasuke and me the Rokushiki techniques. Mom, those are powerful taijutsu techniques, right?"
Kushina thought for a moment and replied, "Probably. I haven't learned them, but it seems they're for chunin-level shinobi. Since Kimimaro decided to teach you, it means he believes you can learn it."
"Hehe, I am Uzumaki Naruto. I'll definitely learn it faster than that idiot Sasuke!"
"Make sure to do your best, then!"
Kushina smiled at her spirited son. After a while, she asked again, "Naruto, do you like living near Yōichi's place?"
"Hokage-sama's place? Yeah, I do!"
Naruto paused at the mention of the name, then responded with a smile, "Hokage-sama and everyone else have been very kind to me, except for Sasuke, who's always full of himself!"
Because of their shared surname, Mina was especially fond of Naruto, a lively little guy who was obedient — much more so than the mischievous Karin.
Karin also liked Naruto and would do whatever he asked, becoming a complete sidekick. Whenever Naruto couldn't beat Sasuke, he'd ask for Karin's help, and then Sasuke would either go to Itachi or just run away.
Kushina then asked, "So, would you prefer to live here, or go back to our old place?"
"The old place was fine too, but it'd be better if we moved here."
After saying that, Naruto looked at his mom and asked, "What's wrong, Mom? Why are you asking this?"
Kushina shook her head, then ruffled Naruto's hair. "Nothing, go train. Just remember not to get hurt!"
"Okay, got it!"
After Naruto left, Kushina's mood sank. She went back upstairs, took the freshly washed bedsheet out to dry, and then sat back down on her bed.
On the cabinet by her bed, their wedding photo was still there — hers and Minato's. Kushina looked at it for a while, then picked it up.
She kept it there to remind herself not to forget Minato, not to forget that she had been married. But unexpectedly, her feelings had changed so soon. It was her who changed.
"Sorry, Minato... Waiting is just too hard."
Kushina whispered, feeling that her body and her thoughts were changing, step by step — especially now that she had this child.
At first, she really didn't know what to do. But now, she could only carry this child and keep moving forward.
"I'm sorry, Minato."
With one last apology, Kushina put the photo away in a box and stored it in her wardrobe. If nothing unexpected happened, that photo might stay there forever.
In the morning, far from Konoha, near Ninja Land.
Swoosh!
A figure suddenly appeared, just like with the Body Flicker Technique, without concealing its chakra at all.
This sudden action caught the attention of the barrier team instantly, who promptly notified the guards near Ninja Land about the presence of an intruder.
Ninja Land was now a cash cow for the village — the only one of its kind in the entire ninja world. As the popularity of ninja games grew, even nobles and merchants from other countries, both large and small, would bring their children to visit.
The village earned over a million ryo daily on average, and during peak times, even two to three million ryo.
Therefore, there were quite a few guards stationed around Ninja Land. Konoha's shinobi had four key locations to patrol, and Ninja Land was one of them.
Upon receiving the alert, the guards rushed to the scene with the Body Flicker Technique, quickly spotting the unfamiliar figure.
"Freeze! Identify yourself!"
The guards quickly surrounded the unknown shinobi, but the man immediately raised his hands and said, "Wait, it's me, Namikaze Minato."
"Hold on…"
The captain who arrived first, Ōdō Tetsuya, stopped his subordinates and, shocked, asked, "Namikaze Minato? You're supposed to be dead!"
"Well, this was an accident. I'm not sure what's going on myself. I'm in the state of Edo Tensei, so I'm not really alive."
Minato explained helplessly. There were many things he didn't understand either. All he remembered was being summoned with Edo Tensei and being under control, and then suddenly breaking free. He had also seen Madara fighting another person.
He observed for a while and noticed that several enemies controlled by White Zetsu tried to attack other Edo Tensei bodies, so he used Flying Thunder God to escape.
After traveling for a long time, Minato finally returned to the village.
"Edo Tensei… My apologies, but please allow us to check you."
Tetsuya spoke and then signaled his team to check Minato's chakra. He also reported the matter to higher-ups.
After the inspection and confirmation from above, Tetsuya spoke to Minato, "Sorry for the delay, Jonin Namikaze, you're free to go."
"It's no problem, thank you for your efforts."
With that, Minato headed into the village.
Passing through Ninja Land, Minato noticed that the village had changed significantly. Several five- or six-story buildings had been erected, and many old, dilapidated buildings were nowhere to be seen.
There were even tall buildings on the Hokage Rock, and most notably, there was a new face carved into the rock — Yōichi's face.
"The Fifth Hokage, huh... Quite an enviable position."
Minato muttered as he continued towards the Hokage building. When he arrived at the entrance, someone was already waiting to take him up.
Upon entering the Hokage office, Minato saw Yōichi sitting behind the desk in the very position he had once dreamed of.
In the room were Sakumo and a few others, only four or five people in total.
"Jonin Namikaze, I didn't expect you to break free from Edo Tensei and return on your own."
Yōichi spoke with a calm expression. Though he had just gotten up from Kushina's side in the morning, he had long mastered the ability to remain unaffected by anything.
"It's been almost four years since the mission where you were killed in action. The last report we received about you was from a few months ago — something about you and other Edo Tensei bodies attacking Sunagakure to steal the One-Tail."
"Sorry about that; I couldn't control myself at that time."
Minato apologized with a remorseful expression. His actions must have caused a lot of trouble for the village.
"No, it's not your fault. You weren't the only Edo Tensei there at that time. Besides, Sunagakure no longer exists. Instead, there's the Konoha Sand Shinobi District. That incident doesn't blame you."
Yōichi shook his head and continued, "There's a long story behind it, but for now, let's talk about you. Jonin Namikaze, how did you escape, and what happened there?"
"To be honest, I don't know exactly how I broke free. I suddenly felt like I had lost control, so I used the Body Flicker Technique to escape the coffin."
Minato shook his head and continued, "Then I saw Uchiha Madara. He seemed to be fighting with someone else, and he used a Susanoo about several hundred meters tall."
Minato described what he saw, including Madara's battle with Ōtsutsuki Urashiki, but there were many things he couldn't understand — such as some of Urashiki's seemingly inexplicable defensive moves.
Minato couldn't see or even sense the Limbo clones, nor did he fully comprehend the fight between the two.
After listening, Sakumo spoke, "The red-glowing weapon — that must be the enemy Second Hokage mentioned, right, Yōichi?"
"Yes, that's him. I didn't expect him to find Madara. It seems his goal isn't just the Nine-Tails; anyone with a massive amount of chakra will be targeted."
Hearing this, Minato couldn't help but ask, "Hokage-sama, if that person's target is also the Nine-Tails, then doesn't that mean Kushina..."
Yōichi spoke, "His initial target was the Nine-Tails. Later, he encountered the First Hokage and wanted to steal the First's chakra too. However, after clashing in the Sand Shinobi District, he couldn't succeed, so he left. Later, as you saw, he must have sensed Madara's powerful chakra and sought him out. From what I understand, Madara has already gathered several tailed beasts."
"Then why doesn't the village stop him? Shouldn't we gather the entire village's power — no, even the Five Great Shinobi Nations' power — to stop him?"
Yōichi resisted the urge to laugh and replied, "Jonin Namikaze, the village won't do that for now. The village's main focus is currently on the Land of Wind and the Land of Rain. You've been away for a long time and may not understand a lot."
At this moment, Yōichi noticed that Kurenai had finished compiling the earlier report and handed it over to him. He glanced at it, then gave it to Minato.
"Jonin Namikaze, please review the report and see if there's anything different from what you said."
Minato took the scroll and examined it carefully, then shook his head and said, "It's basically identical. I have nothing to add."
"In that case, as the Fifth Hokage, I'd like to assign you a task, Jonin Namikaze."
Yōichi spoke, "Although it's not entirely appropriate to assign you a task right now, I can't leave the village, and you are the most suitable person for this task."
"Hokage-sama, please go ahead. Though I am dead, I'm still a shinobi of Konoha."
"Deliver this information to the First and Second Hokage, and inform them in detail about what you saw regarding that Ōtsutsuki enemy, so that they can be cautious."
Yōichi instructed.
Minato understood that he was the only one capable of this mission. Anyone else, even if they could deliver the information, wouldn't be able to accurately convey what had happened, which could easily lead to misunderstandings.
"I understand, Fifth Hokage-sama. I will leave immediately, but I..."
"I know what you mean. That child's name is Naruto. He's almost four years old now."
Yōichi smiled and continued, "However, there's no need for you to go to your old home. The enemy has an extremely elusive space-time ability, and since they're also interested in the Nine-Tails, I had Kushina and Naruto move near my residence in the Uchiha district. There's also a sensory barrier for protection. You can go directly to the Uchiha district."
"I understand. Thank you for taking care of Kushina and Naruto, Fifth Hokage-sama."
Upon hearing this, Minato felt that the Fifth Hokage was indeed very considerate. He then bowed to Yōichi and said, "After seeing Kushina and Naruto, I will leave immediately and won't delay for more than two hours."
"Good, then go. Jiraiya and the Third Hokage are also in the Sand Shinobi District. You can ask them about the changes in the village over the past few years."
"Yes, Fifth Hokage-sama."
After saying this, Minato left the Hokage office with the information scroll.
Though the Uchiha district had been expanded once, there hadn't been any major changes. Minato went directly to the Uchiha district and inquired about Yōichi's residence.
After walking for a while and making a few turns, Minato saw a mother and son coming toward him. He recognized that familiar voice.
"Mom, Aunt Mina said we could have breakfast together. Why did you bring me back? If we ate at Aunt Mina's, I could start training earlier."
"Stop whining! If we eat there, then the lunch I made would go to waste. You, my silly son, need to eat a nutritious lunch made by your mom!"
Kushina said, giving Naruto a light smack on the head, which made Naruto hold his head in pain.
"Kushina!"
Minato couldn't help but call out. His voice made both Kushina and Naruto pause and look in his direction.
Seeing the familiar figure and face, Kushina suddenly felt her breathing quicken.
"Mi... Minato!?"
That feeling couldn't be deceiving her. The person before her was indeed Minato. But at the same time, a deep fear welled up within Kushina, and her hand instinctively moved to her abdomen, stopping her from taking another step.
(End of Chapter)
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